Tag Archives: Community Outreach

Global Support Team Takes Ashley Park Elementary Under It’s Wing

The BNI Foundation Global Support Team had a great year with it’s sponsored school, Ashley Park Elementary! This year the team made a concerted effort to really make a difference for the students and teachers. Below are highlights of the results of the team’s hard work, time and funds invested toward Ashley Park Elementary.

In September the team collected school supplies and BNI HQ donated book bags for the preschool classes

In December they collected PJ’s for the Preschoolers

In February they collected belts for the students

In March they collected Navy colored polo shirts for the students’ uniforms

In April they collected Khaki pants for the uniforms

BNI HQ sponsored a field trip for the 5th grade class to Laser Tag as well as a stop at BNI HQ for free ice pops from “King of Pops’ and a tour of the offices and a talk with CEO Graham Weihmiller

In May they held a teacher appreciation for the amazing teachers that work in very difficult situations day in and day out. The team collected money and had a Coffee truck available at the school in the teacher parking lot to offer all of the staff free specialty coffees. There were also donuts, bagels and other yummy treats in their teacher lounge. The staff was blown away and so appreciative of this gesture.

Congratulations to the Global Support Team for a great year sponsoring a deserving school. Keep up the good work. Check out the video below and the gallery at this link.

Another round of career fairs is coming up this fall! They’ve been a great success so far, commonly attracting 100 business people per event to speak with kids about various professions to help them make educated decisions about their futures.

That was the case with the recent career fair in Guilford Middle School, where students went on a scavenger hunt to find info about various careers so they could ask specific questions to the adult volunteers. Every volunteer enjoyed their experience; Glen Coleman said that most of them were asking about when the next opportunity would be to share with the kids.

The Boys and Girls club in Vacaville serves over 300 students, ages 6 to 18yrs. Years ago, they were awarded a BNI Foundation Givers Gain Grant due to a nomination by Susan Schwartz, BNI Director Consultant BNI CA San Francisco North Bay. They purchased Tower Gardens to teach the students about gardening and nutrition. They are growing tomatoes, pumpkin, basil, Swiss chard, kale, onions, cucumbers, cilantro and peppers.

Business Voices rings strong in Texas. The Austin Independent School District recently received a donation that brought immediate comfort for students so they can better focus on learning.

Students of the school district, ranging from elementary school all the way through high school, did not consistently have socks to wear each day when coming to class. After a connection made with Nicole Connely of AISD, local BNI chapters could examine the schools’ situations more closely.

Back in November 2013 BNI directors from around the world traveled to Long Beach for what would be a particularly memorable International Directors Conference. Somewhere off the coast of the Philippines at that same time, Typhoon Yolanda began gaining force. That oceanic storm would prove to be among the most powerful the world had ever seen.